Experimental Products formed in Philadelphia in 1982. Michael Gross and Mark Wilde, the two founding members of the group, had previously played together in a punk band in suburban Delaware called The Snots—after that band’s breakup, the two came back together owing to a mutual interest in synthesizers. They recorded their debut LP, Prototype, in the garage-studio owned by Gross’s landlord and released it on their own Short Circuit Records imprint. After the album’s release, Gross bought his landlord’s equipment and set up a studio in his basement where the band recorded the Glowing In The Dark 12”, also self-released, which ended up a hit in the dance clubs—one YouTube commenter claims the song was played “every night for years” at Chicago’s Berlin Nightclub. This video was shot at The Kennel Club, a members-only nightclub that seems to have been at the epicenter of the New Wave scene in Philadelphia (there are some great old photos on its Facebook).

The group recorded a final 12”, Experiment!, in 1987 (the only Experimental Products release recorded in a professional-quality studio), but tragically Wilde died before it saw release. After his untimely death, the band fell apart and put out no new material for nearly 20 years. Then, in 2005, International Deejay Gigolo Records reissued Glowing In The Dark with a new remix from the French producer Play Paul. And in 2010, the excellent reissue label Vinyl-On-Demand released the compilation Tracks To Glow In The Dark, which contains all of the group’s vinyl output as well as unreleased rarities.